Improvement in locks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, OF SING SING, NEV YORK, ASSIGN OR TO HIMSELF, CORNELIUS WALSH, AND JOHN O. NOBLES.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS).

Specification formi ug part of Letters Patent NO. 39,009, dated June 23, 1863.

T0 al whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RANDOLPH S. FosrER, of Sing Sing, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drawer-Locks; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of tlie saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 represents a perspective View of thelock. Fig.2representstheinteriorthereof.

Fig. 3 represents the key. Fig. 4 represents the turning-hub, and Fig. 5 represents the bitplates.

Similar letters of reference,where they occur in the several figures, denote like parts in all the drawings.

This invention consists in a peculiar arrangement oi' key, turning-hub, bit-plates,and spring-shooting bolt, so that one revolution of the key and turning-hub shall arrange the bitplates, draw in and lock in the bolt, again rearrange the bit-plates, and allow the bolt to be shot out by its spring, as will be explained in connection with the drawings.

The external appearance of the lock, as shown in Figs. 1,2,is like that ofthe common drawer-lock. A hub, A, is supported in the front and back plates, B O, of the lock by short journals a a. This hub has formed in it the key-slot b, and a portion, as at c, cut away from it, also a disk, d,with a cam projection, e, upon it.

. The bit-plates D--of which there are th ree, corresponding with the three bits 1 2 3 of the key E, but of which there may be more or less, as may be preferred, without changing the character of the invention-have three openings, f g h, in them of rectangular form, those f (when arranged) for a stud, t', in the' shooting bolt F to pass through, and those g to allow the bit-plates to move past and interlock with the said stud t', and the others,h,for the key and hub to turn in, and each of the bit-plates has aspring,7',to keep them in proper position when not being acted upon by the hub or key,or both. The shooting bolt'F has a bow-spring, k, bearing against it, which is constantly tending to shoot out the bolt. It has also the stud i, above mentioned, and a catch or shoulder, Z, aga-inst Which the cam projection e on the disk d takes to draw in the bolt. Suppose the bolt F to be shot out, as shown in Figs. l and 2, then by inserting the key and turning it a quarter-revolution or thereabout,the hub rst and the key-bits afterward, arrange the slots f in line, and just as this is done the cam e of the disk d, which is a part of the turning-hub, comes against the shoulder Z on the bolt and draws the bolt into the lock against the action of the spring k,and the moment this is done the bit-plates are released and their springsj throw them into an interlocked position with regard to the stud t' on the bolt, and the bolt now remains locked in the lock. By turning the key and hub again, and rearranging the bit-plates so as to bring the slots f in line, the spring k recoils and shoots out the bolt, and by turning the key and hub still further, or backing them out of this position, the bit-plates again interlock with the stud and hold the bolt.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the key, turning-hub, and bit-plates, with a shooting bolt,the whole constructed and co-operating together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein described.

RANDOLPH S. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN R. HAINEs, JOHN C. NoBLEs. 

